Live Out Loud!

The countdown has begun...

2011-12-14T04:56:00.000-08:00

no, I'm not talking about Christmas here. I'm talking about this:

yes. In one year, this epic story will grace theaters with its presence. I'm exicted! just 365 more days to wait...
More immediately, and more importantly, Christmas is in 11 days!!! (just in case you guys hadn't figured that out yourselves). AHHH!!! I feel like December came really early this year...I was definitely not ready for it yet. :/

2011-12-13T07:44:00.000-08:00

I decided to post on my blog this morning. Obviously this urge does not descend upon me often...hence the lack of posts in recent months. Even now, I don't have anything in particular to say.
But I thought this cold, rainy day called for some brilliant or witty or thoughtful post from me (preferably one accompanied by a picture, just 'cause that makes it more fun). However, brilliance, wit, and thoughtfulness is not flowing out of me, so I'll simply leave you with this: I haven't forgotten you (well, maybe I did, but now I'm remembering), my blogging friends, and when any semblance of brilliance, wit, or thoughtfulness descends upon me, I'll be sure to share it with you. :)

Happy birthday Momma!!!

2011-08-31T08:30:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday dear Mommy,
Happy birthday to you!

Here we go...

2011-08-27T12:58:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody!! It's been a while, I know. :/ Sorry 'bout that. But I guess now is as good a time as any to get back into this blogging thing. :)
Hannah-banana just came and spent the night with us!! The weekend included yummy food, exploratory walks, picture sharing, and lots of laughs!! Thank-you Hannah, for a wonderful time!!!

there goes another one...

2011-07-06T10:21:00.000-07:00

She left for Haiti this morning. :( Anyone who knows her can imagine how difficult it was to find a picture. :) I'm gonna miss her. At least she won't be gone for too long...she comes back on Tuesday.

Sarah got back yesterday! I'm glad they weren't gone at the same time. I need at least one of them!

4th of July

2011-07-04T06:33:00.001-07:00

Happy Independence Day!!!!

The road...

2011-06-26T05:01:00.000-07:00

"The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say."
- Bilbo Baggins

"Make me to know your ways, O LORD;
teach me your paths.
Lead me in your truth and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation;
for you I wait all the day long."
- David (Psalm 25:4-5)

It's raining, it's pouring...

2011-06-24T12:48:00.000-07:00

This is about what the sky looks like right now. After getting her license on Wednesday, this is the first time Mary has driven just one person (me, this time) by herself. And it started raining shortly after we left the house. By the time we left to come back home, there was thunder and lighting and power "hiccups" (that's my own word...don't know what else to call it) and puddles and wind and all kinds of craziness. Plus, we were downtown and the severe weather/thunderstorm alert/siren thingy was going off.

Mary's driving was quite wonderful, and overall everyone else was going cautiously as well, but the lightning and rain made for a very high adrenaline ride. :) Now we're safe at home enjoying the storm...from inside our cozy house. :)

100th post

2011-06-22T09:10:00.000-07:00

Actually, this is my 101st post, because I posted a happy birthday salutation for Peter. I was going to post yesterday about Sarah leaving and have my 100th post moment then, but the power went out. :(

Won't see her again for two weeks. I'm required to be sad about it. *sob*.

Happy Birthday Peter

2011-06-22T09:06:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday dear Peter,
Happy birthday to you!!!

brief recap of the last week...

2011-06-19T04:34:00.000-07:00

It's Sunday. June 19th. Happy Father's Day!!! I do feel kinda bad that it's been two weeks since I posted, but I'm doing it today!!! I don't really remember too much about the week before last, so I'm gonna just do a recap of this last week.

Sunday night - Kevin came down to celebrate his birthday (yes, it was a month late. Poor guy) and go to Riverbend with Dad. We had a delicious chocolate cake and everything!!!!

Monday night - we had a swim meet. we lost. :)

Tuesday night - We went to Riverbend and saw Casting Crowns!!! They were AMAZING!!! We went with a friend and picked another one up somewhere along the way. :) Kevin came down again with a friend and sat with us.

Wednesday - Kevin stayed overnight and on Wednesday he beat us at Scrabble. :P He went back to Riverbend that night and then went home. Mary and Sarah went to a movie with a friend.

Thursday night - We had another swim meet...and lost again.

Friday - I played Ultimate frisbee and got my nose busted.

Saturday - we celebrated Peter's birthday!!! Sarah will be in Uganda on his actual birthday, so we celebrated early. He got clothes, a book, a magazine subscription, a "hydro calculator" (it runs on water batteries?), and Lord of the Rings Risk...which is what I think will become our "Sunday" - playing Risk all day long. :)

Sunday - Actually, today we have secret Father's Day plans. But after them, maybe some Risk will be in order...

Sorry I haven't posted in so long. :) I really was going to a few days ago (after Riverbend), but then I tried (to no avail) to fix the date, and that used up all my post-writing time and energy. I'll try to do better. Really. Happy Father's Day!!! Have a great week!!!!

Last night/this morning

2011-06-05T12:25:00.000-07:00

Okay, I still can't figure out how to fix the date thingy, so just ignore it. And if you really don't know what day it is, it's Sunday, June 5th, 2011. Now that that's out of the way, I will tell you what I was doing this morning.

It was actually a continuation of something I was doing last night. It was a celebration - that spanned two days!!! So, yesterday, we celebrated Sarah's graduation with a special meal which (of course) included APPLE PIE!!! It was yummy. :)

For the post-dinner festivities, we had decided to go to the drive-in movie theater in Trenton, GA. Last night/this morning, they were playing X-Men First Class (which Sarah has been dying to see ever since the first trailer came out) and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. The gates opened at 7:30 and the first feature was supposed to start at 9:15.

We got in line at 7:20, waited for it to open, paid admission, claimed our spot, parked the car, bought popcorn, and opened our Sour Dots (another of Sarah's favorite indulgences). We got situated and then the waiting began.

All in all, 2 hours isn't that long to wait, but when you know all you're waiting for is for it to get dark, it seems like the sun takes FOREVER to set. Dad, Kathy, and I threw the frisbee some and I don't really know what Sarah and Mary did. Knowing Sarah, she was probably reading. Oh, by the way, Peter and Mom decided not to go...they value their shut-eye more than we do, I think. :) It was the four girls and Dad out on an adventure!!!!

Actually, let me back up for a second. When we got there, there were two lines we could wait in before they opened the gates and let people in. We got in the shorter line. Then Dad started thinking "maybe one line goes to one screen and one line goes to the other. Wait a second, what if we're in the wrong line?" He voiced his opinion, and no one knew for sure if it mattered. I offered that I didn't think it mattered, but I wasn't positive, so my advice was overlooked. No one was behind us in line. We had no way of finding out if we were in the wrong place until we got up to the gate, and then it might be too late. so, what did we do? We pulled a James Bond move and reversed the car all the way back to the entrance to see if the sign there told us.

It didn't. We did, however, find two workers driving a golf cart, and Dad asked them. They assured him it made no difference which line he was in. That's what I had said to begin with.

Then we put the car back in drive and drove right up the line again. All we really accomplished was gaining the incredulous stares of all the people in the cars next to us.

Fast-forward to where I left off before. The sun had just set, and the announcer came on over the speakers and told us our first feature was about to begin. It was 9:36, and we were excited to finally get started!!! After being fans of the other X-Men movies (for the most part, anyway), we had high expectations for this, the newest installment. It did not disappoint. It was well thought through, and it carried the storyline that began so many years ago with the first movie really well.

After the first movie ended, there was a 15 (that turned into 20) minute intermission. People who had just come to see the first movie left, but not us. Oh, no. Not us.

It was 12:15 a.m. when Pirates started. Our expectations weren't quite as high for this movie. After the first Pirates of the Caribbean, the next two moved downhill steadily. In the third one, they kill one of the main characters. Not exactly the best way to set up for a stellar fourth blockbuster. But, in it's defense, On Stranger Tides did seem to have more thought and depth to it than the others - even the first one, which was always a favorite for me. :) Of course, it still had it's not-so-great moments and overall, I wouldn't really recommend it, but it was nice that the creators at least seem to have tried harder to make it a worthwhile film.

The second movie ended at 2:25-ish. We then drove home and went to bed around 3. We went to the late service at church. Go figure. And everyone stayed awake!!! Poor Sarah has to work a 7-hour shift today. Plus, tomorrow she has freshman orientation at UTC. That dear, exhausted, girl. But we had a blast!!!!
I might post more thorough reviews of the movies, but not right now.

argh!!!

2011-06-02T09:34:00.001-07:00

I can't figure out how to fix the date icon thing!!! It's driving me crazy!!! does anyone else know how to fix it?!?!

Goodbye?

2011-05-30T07:33:00.000-07:00

yeah. I haven't posted in a while. Unfortunately, I haven't really wanted to, either. I don't feel like I have anything worth saying to the whole wide world. Plus, it takes pretty much time and effort. Not that that's a bad thing, but sometimes (read: usually) I'm lazy about it and even if I do have something to say, I wait too long before saying it and it becomes irrelevant. So, I think I might close this blog down. I might start another one (or just redo this one) that has a clearer purpose. Maybe later in the summer when things settle down.

Happy Birthday Sarah!!!

2011-04-06T10:17:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday dear Sarah Jean,
Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday Susan!!!

2011-04-05T04:32:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday dear "Sufie"!
Happy Birthday to you!

My Books...

2011-04-03T06:14:00.000-07:00

I know you've seen Sarah's, but I wanted to show you all *my* book pictures. I love old books. I like books about history, but my favorite kind of book ever is a book that *is* history. When I pick up an old book (i.e. over a hundred years old), the first thing I notice is the book itself - not what's written on the pages, but how they're cracked and torn - the signs of much use. And I wonder about the people who owned the book before me and which ones read it all the time and which ones just let it sit there on the shelf and age. And then once I stop imagining the lives of all the people who read the book, I add myself to that history by reading the book and discovering the people within it. I love old books. :)
This is the inscription on my third edition (1907) Ivanhoe, by Sir Walter Scott. I love finding things like this in my books. :)

These are pictures of the end of the preface in my copy of Yeast by Charles Kingsley. 1851. I'm in a blissful state.

And these last ones are random ones I took yesterday in the beautiful out-of-doors. *sigh* I think God just throws those perfect kinds of days at you and dares you to enjoy it to the fullest...which I don't think I did, but I love trying. :)

The last one was just thrown in there for fun. :)
I might do another post telling you specifically what books I got (both the ones in the pictures and the other ones), but I figured the pictures were more important for right now.

Last night...

2011-03-24T09:21:00.000-07:00

Wednesday movies are a dollar at the cheap theater here. Consequently, we went to see Tangled for a dollar a person last night. Everyone except Dad had seen it before. It was packed (the theater's tiny) with little girls and little boys (ages 2-12, for the most part). They were really loud. As I said, there were a lot of them, but they were restless. And the toddlers were upset. It was humorous, but not necessarily enjoyable. They settled down after previews, though. So, we were all sitting there watching the movie and right when we reached the climax, the film reel thingy melted. The screen went blank, and we saw the brown film melt (like bubble and disintegrate). The kids erupted. All the little girls and boys were outraged, upset, hyper, talkative, and overall LOUD. A worker came in and explained it would be fixed and running again in about 10 minutes. 15 minutes later, it started about 30 secs before it had stopped the first time, and we cranked out about 2 minutes (getting further into the climax, but not quite resolving it yet), and then lost video, but retained audio...for another 15 seconds. This time they didn't turn on the lights (they had the first time it stopped) and so we were left in pitch darkness with the restless kids and their frazzled parents. Keep in mind that at this point it was about quarter after 9, so most of these kids needed to be in bed. They tried to start it again, but that time no video came on at all, just the audio again. THEN, they turned on a couple of lights and a policeman came in to keep the people calm and told us the manager was on his way and we needed to stay in our seats. I don't know what people were thinking, but about half of them left at that point. Lots of people had left when the movie stopped the first time, and more left after the second time. So, the theater was only about a third of the way full with little kids who needed to be in bed and they were all talking at once, and not staying calm at all, and they were all discussing how the movie was going to end. It kind of felt like how I imagine it would feel to be in detention with a bunch of juvenile delinquents waiting for the principal to show up. The manager came in with replacement tickets, and most of the people who were left got up and were scrambling to be first in line for the refunds because they wanted to go home. Re-enter policeman. He made them all sit back down where they were and then he went from row to row with the manager and gave out the tickets. And some of those kids still don't know how it ended. You can totally guess, and most people had a sibling or parent who had already seen it, so their curiosity was satisfied, but I think there are still some confused little kids who don't know how it ends or why they couldn't see it. But now, we have replacement tickets and we can watch a (different) movie for free. It was an adventure, and I think, overall a success.

I hope you're wearing green!

2011-03-17T06:46:00.000-07:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

"Christ beside me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ within me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me." ~St. Patrick

Happy Pi Day!!!!!

2011-03-14T10:44:00.000-07:00

Pi Day is one of the most neglected holidays. Which is really sad, considering it is one of the few that directly relates to food. Other holidays have food that is regularly associated with it, but Pi Day is just that: a day for Pie. All Pi(e), including, but not limited to, Apple, Blueberry, Cherry, Chocolate, 22/7, and 3.14. It's a play on two words - homonyms - but they are both equally important in the celebration of the day. You can't truly appreciate the day without a slice of pie and/or a math equation. So, whichever one appeals to you - the math or the food (or both) - use it to celebrate today!!!!

2011-02-19T12:28:00.000-08:00

I do want to post more. Really, truly, I do. But I don't always have time to post, and I don't always have something interesting to say. :( So, once-in-a-blue-moon when something happens, I will post and document it accordingly. I hope.
That being said, something did happen yesterday:
Our piano teacher and her kids took Peter and Kathy to the site of a Extreme Home Makeover. As in, the tv show. Kathy says it really wasn't that thrilling. However, she got some pictures of the cranes with cameras and a few reporters, etc. Also, the dad of the toddler Mary babysits (who is absolutely adorable! - the toddler, not the dad) designed and built a desk for the house. It's a bubble desk...I thought that meant the desk was shaped like a bubble - kind of round-ish. No, instead it's a desk that has a device built-in. And this device thingy actually makes and shoots bubbles from under the desk (I think). I really wanted to go, but I was sick. :( It was a tragedy. I hope to confiscate Kathy's camera soon and post whatever pictures she has. :)

To know or not to know

2011-01-23T05:51:00.000-08:00

something's gonna happen soon...
what is it?, you ask...
well, that's for me to know and you to find out...
maybe. BWAHAHAHAHA (evil laugh)

It's snowing!! Again!

2011-01-10T09:01:00.000-08:00

We have a glorious 6-8 inches on the ground right now and more is falling! The cars were nearly buried this morning! The snow is kind of powdery, but still absolutely beautiful! We made a Jabba the Hut sculpture this morning...hopefull you've seen Star Wars. Otherwise it won't do much for you. He's pretty cute. More pictures will follow, but for right now, here's Jabba:

2011-01-01T05:14:00.001-08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas...

2010-12-25T04:35:00.001-08:00

It's snowing!!!! And for the first time since I can remember, Chattanooga will have a White Christmas!!! And Kevin's home!!!! And we're having yummy, yummy food today!!! I'm excited!!! I'll try to take and post pictures later. Right now I'm going to go make pancakes. :) Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas

2010-12-25T04:33:00.000-08:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

"For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS!!!

2010-12-19T09:40:00.000-08:00

Guess what today is...after you read this post, you should promptly send a celebratory e-mail to my sister (feel free to copy me on it, because I would love to see what you say to her :). I shall think you a simpleton indeed if you cannot remember what it is...and Mary will think worse of you if she doesn't receive some kind of proof that you didn't forget her today. I'll give you 16 clues to help jog your memory:

1. we're decorating right now
2. we're discussing very important dessert plans for tonight
3. Dad was just sent on an emergency run for tissue paper
4. it's December 19th
5. the number of clues I am issuing (however useless) is significant
6. I don't know if I can get 10 more clues out
7. There are signs all over the house with a special greeting
8. half-way done
9. Mary and I just iced a cake
10. there will be a party tomorrow in honor of this occasion
11. mary will receive presents from each of her family members...tonight
12. there will be lots of good food involved
13. she could legally be on the road now...alone
14. how old I am :)
15. a number she leaves behind...today
16. it rhymes with "pappy mirthday"

Okay, so I'm not sure how helpful clues 6, 8 and 14 were, but I ran out of ideas. I think all of you know what today is, but I wrote this just in case. :)

Lord of the Rings

2010-12-15T10:17:00.000-08:00

I know my template is not exactly conventional. But, as you all probably know, I love the Lord of the Rings. The books and the movies. So, I looked high and low for a template that would reflect that, and this was the best I could do. It wouldn't be my top choice if there were any other options, but I was tired of my old one, and decided I should just change it. So I did.
Now, in keeping with my near-obsession with the Lord of the Rings, I was watching the Two Towers last night, and I noticed a discrepency that had never caught my eye before. So now I have a challenge to see how many of you can find it, too. Whenever you get 5 free minutes (and if you have access to the movie...which I believe everyone should), watch the scene where Aragorn meets Eomer on the plains of Rohan after the slaughter of the Uruk-Hai by the Rohirrim. Aragorn calls out to Eomer's company, they turn around and challenge the three wanderers, and then Eomer ends up giving them two horses. Watch as Eomer bids them farewell and mounts his horse again. If you don't see anything the first time, then watch it frame-by-frame and then tell me what you see.*(note below)
If you don't have time to watch it soon, or just don't want to have to deal with that, or just want to know what I saw, I can tell you. But I want to see if you can find it yourself first. :) I will post the answer after I know what some of you did - and didn't - find.

ONLY READ THE NOTE BELOW AFTER YOU TRY FINDING IT WATCHING AT FULL SPEED...I don't want to make it too easy for you. :)

*The actual *incident* (for lack of a better word) occurs as/right after Eomer mounts his horse. When you're watching frame-by-frame it can take forever, so I'm trying to give you a closer target area without giving it away. I think you'll see it the first time around if you know you're looking for something.

2010-12-15T10:13:00.001-08:00

Okay, so in case you haven't noticed, posts from me have been sporadic at best. It would take a long time (and it wouldn't be very interesting) to explain why this happened. However, after contemplating the termination of this blog, I decided I didn't want to do that. So, I am making (and enacting) my New Year's Resolution right now: I resolve to attempt to post more often. Sometimes I just don't know what to say, and sometimes I have so much to say I don't have time to write it all. Regardless, I will try to organize my thoughts and post more consistently. Thank-you to everyone who has consistently checked my blog, even with no anticipation of a new post. :) Merry Christmas!

Tornado Watch

2010-10-26T17:12:00.000-07:00

So, here in our lovely city of Chattanooga, TN, a dark terror is at hand. The sky is black, the wind is blowing, and the streets are deserted. And it has nothing to do with Halloween. A tornado watch has been issued and active for many hours. Yesterday a tornado touched down, destroying trees, power lines, and it also ripped the siding off of a house. Today a tornado lowered from the sky and caused 7 cars to lose control. There have been no fatalities reported, but our city is living in fear. People are pretty scared right now. It should pass by tomorrow, with, I pray, no more damage done.

Last weekend...and this past one

2010-10-12T08:04:00.000-07:00

So, last week I posted about the Rocky Top Regatta and today I am providing pictures. (The ones I have, anyway.)

The first picture is my boat. :) well, actually, one of them was in a different boat, but that doesn't matter. In case you can't tell, I'm the one on the end with the sling. Since we got second, we got little silver medals, and that's what's in the second picture, along with my jersey. Now to the good stuff. On Sunday, October 10th, 2010, Stephen Francis Zeglen married Emilie Sue Heine at Valley Community Church in Great Falls, MT. They are now on their honeymoon. More complete details will follow, both here and on Mary and Sarah's blog. Until then, a picture is worth a thousand words, so here they are. :)

Steve was crying in the second pic...he was so happy. :) The cute little blond kid in the third to last pic was the ringbearer. He was adorable. The next picture is the arch they were married under. The last pic is his car...his air force buddies did that. :) I have more pictures, and will probably post them later but for right now this is it.

Long time, no post

2010-10-05T05:06:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the long delay in posting. I'm going to try to do better...I'm still just trying to figure out my schedule and when I can post. On top of homework, crew, and piano everyday, I also have to work around other people needing the computer. I can give you a quick update on this weekend. (I will post pictures later.) On Saturday, Dad, Peter, and I went to our first regatta in Oak Ridge, TN. We had to stay there pretty much all day. We met Kevin for dinner, and then came home. :) On Sunday, Dad, Kathy, and I went to like, three different stores in search of black cowboy boots and a black belt for Peter for Stephen's wedding this Sunday. Scary, I know. We were unsuccessful the first time round, but later we went out to the Flea Market, and found both boots and a belt. I think that's about it. Fall is finally here! It's cold outside! YAY!!

2010-09-18T06:42:00.000-07:00

Just in case anyone reads this before I'm finished, I'm revising my blog, but I have been kicked off the computer so it looks weird and it will until I am allowed back on.

2010-08-19T05:15:00.000-07:00

School has officially started now, and I'm feeling rather swamped. I stil have tons of homework to do that is due on Monday...but I'm just telling you posts (at least for the next couple of weeks) will be few and far between. (not like I posted that much anyway, but that's beside the point.) :)

A question to ponder...

2010-08-14T05:17:00.001-07:00

SJ's coming back tonight! The question now is whether or not I should put her room back to the way it was. Should I leave it like it is now (with the 'for rent' sign and everything) or should I put it back the way it was? I'm open to suggestions... :)

AHHH!!!

2010-08-11T13:31:00.000-07:00

Summer is almost over! I can't believe it went by so quickly, and I'm totally not ready for school to start on Monday!! AHHH!!!! Actually, I am ready in the sense that I have collected and previewed my books for this year, and feel fairly confident about the year...I just don't want to use the books or the year to start already! Oh, well. Summer has been great, but now it's time to keep on learning. Fun.

2010-08-04T08:28:00.000-07:00

The last picture is how Sarah left her room when she flew to Maine on Sunday. The first three pictures are what I did this morning. I decided to rent out her space in my - I mean our bedroom. Any takers?

2010-07-10T04:46:00.000-07:00

I do realize how long it has been since I posted, and I apologize. However, many people do not realize how long it has been since I posted, because they don't check my blog that often. Which I TOTALLY UNDERSTAND, by the way. It's summer, and people are super crazy, and some are out of town and don't have internet half the time, or just don't have time to go on the computer, or just don't check my blog because it's not a top priority when they do. I completely understand, I myself don't have as much time to post. So, whenever something happens that warrants the time and effort to post, but is not important enough that everyone needs to know, (since they aren't reading this, anyway) I'll post. Until then, I hope you all are having a great summer!!!!

To Whom It May Concern...

2010-06-20T11:35:00.000-07:00

I just shot a mouse!!! No, I'm not kidding. We've had a mouse living in our pantry for almost four days, and today Dad caught him/it. (We named it Earl Templeton Mickey IV, in case you were wondering.) So, Dad caught it with our claw thingy. Actually, first he barricaded himself in our pantry to try and catch it in a live rat trap, but he escaped into the kitchen (this daring escapade was soon followed by many screams and jumps and terrification) and Dad hit him with the claw and immobolized him and then he was really caught. Then I loaded up our gun and shot the mouse. Thus ended Earl Templeton Mickey IV. It was really excited, and I think everyone's adrenaline is still pumping. Sarah took a video, but it's too long too upload. I might be able to post some of it and maybe some pictures later.

By the way...

2010-06-19T12:29:00.001-07:00

I'm going to change the background to something a little more exciting, and add text to my piture...but it's a start. :)

Blog redesign

2010-06-19T12:28:00.001-07:00

What do you think?

hmm...

2010-06-18T13:40:00.000-07:00

So, I'm totally redesigning my blog, but I hit a few speed bumps, and it's not quite there yet. I created a beautiful banner (multiple, actually...it was kinda addicting :), but when I attempted to upload it onto my blog, it shrunk!!! I was not happy, and I found a beautiful background, but it costs money (the nerve!), so I'm back to square one as far as that goes. so, enjoy the blank white slate, and hopefully my blog will have a whole new look sometime this weekend.

Pictures!!!

2010-05-31T05:14:00.001-07:00

True to form, Mary refused to be in any and all pictures, but she took some really good ones. :)

Quick post

2010-05-30T14:44:00.000-07:00

We're back!!! We got home about an hour and a half ago, and I just showered and finished un-packing. Pictures will (hopefully) be coming soon!!! We took a lot of pictures on the beach, and I will be sure to post some of the them...sometime. :) I don't know how many pictures we have of us with Kevin, but I'll look for some. Right now I'm just glad to be home.

Iraq...Arabic

2010-05-18T11:16:00.000-07:00

Congratulations Adrian for guessing correctly! And Hannah, you were close. Farsi (or Persian) is the national language of Iran...but Iraq is Arabic. Now, why I posted that in the first place. On Sunday morning, our assistant pastor asked us (Sarah, Mary, and Susie) if we were available the next day (Monday, yesterday) to help an elder of our church teach an English class to Iraqi refugees. Mary couldn't because of her babysitting job, but Sarah and I said we would do it. All together, we were working with five women and one man. (One of the reasons our pastor asked us to help: we were female, and so the ladies would be more comfortable.) Our head pastor's wife was also there to help. There were three ladies from Iraq, one from Lebanon (who spoke Arabic, although I'm not sure if that's the national language of Lebanon), and one from Russia. (she was from Russia, but had lived in Uzbekistan for a while.) It was exceedingly helpful that they all spoke the same language, even the Russian woman who knew a little English and a little Arabic in addition to her native tongue. However, none of us knew any Arabic, so it was definitely an adventure. We went over basic English words (table, chair, girl, etc.) and also the correct use of 'this' and 'that'. Some of them got it right away, but some of them didn't. It was really fun to see the hypothetical light bulb turn on when they understood. It was also exciting when all but one of them understood, and then the other four would explain it to them in Arabic. All four, at the same time. :) We then explained to them (with the help of visual aids) how to call the doctor/dentist's office to make an appointment, and how to refill a drug prescription at the pharmacy. One thing they had a lot of trouble with was their birthdate, which as you know, is required by the doctor. They were confused because in Arabic you write the day first and then the month, (which I think makes more sense, anyway) and because they knew the names of the months but not what number they corresponded with, and they wrote the year backwords. If they were born in
1969, they would write 1996. I have no idea why they write the last two letters switched and not the first two, but they do. They also had trouble saying the numbers (like, they would say "November twenty three instead of November twenty third and they would say one-nine instead of nineteen) They knew how to read English fairly well, which is surprising considering how different it is from Arabic. It was really fun to watch them write, because they wrote in Arabic and they wrote from right to left. We also had to teach them how to make the sound a 'p' does because there is no sound like a 'p' in Arabic. They didn't know how to make the sound at all. Sarah and I had a lot of fun. The ladies would say something in Arabic and then laugh. and laugh. and laugh. We would laugh, too, even though we didn't know what was funny. The elder from our church who teaches the class plans to do it all summer, and Sarah and I are planning on helping whenever we can.

question...

2010-05-18T04:52:00.001-07:00

What is the national language of Iraq? When someone guesses it right, I will write a post explaining how it has anything to do with anything right now. If your last name is Zeglen, you are officially disqualified because I already told you. If you google it first, that is cheating. Unfortunately, I can't catch you googling it, but if you can live with yourself after I told you not to, then I guess I can deal with it, too. Asking family members is not prohibited, but discouraged. (Esp. because none of mine knew the right answer.) :)

Mothers Day (belated)

2010-05-17T04:29:00.001-07:00

On Saturday, the girls took Mom out to see a movie and get dessert for Mothers Day. (better late than never, right?) We went to see Letters to Juliet and then went and got cupcakes. It was delightful.

2010-05-15T12:13:00.000-07:00

YAY!! This computer is posting pictures again! Above is the best picture of Al Gore I have. The lighting was not set up for successful pictures, lol. The other one is again, a picture of Caroline!!! She came back today to play!!! She is absolutely adorable, as always. Have a happy Saturday!!!

P.S. There should be a post coming soon about tonight...we're taking Mom out for a belated Mothers Day...!!!

here they are...

2010-05-15T06:23:00.000-07:00

Graduation!

2010-05-15T06:06:00.000-07:00

Kevin graduated from UTK (the University of Tennessee at Knoxville) yesterday!! He was excited. We had to leave our house at 5:30 in order to get there on time, which meant we were all waking up sometime before 5 so that we could shower and eat some breakfast. We had a to hour drive ahead of us, and we knew graduation would last at least to hours. It lasted 3. So, we went about 7 hours with no food. Plus, the only food we'd had was cereal (you don't really feel like making anything else at 4:45 A.M.). Anyway, the actual graduation was 3 hours long, but we got there an hour and a half early so that we could actually get seats. Then we had to wait another hour before we actually got to the resteraunt and got our food. Al Gore gave the commencement speech. It was interesting. He talks in a very convincing way...like some other politicians we know. No wonder he became VP and co-won a Nobel Peace Prize. After his 30 minute speech, every single graduate had to have their name read out and then walk the stage. There were over 1,000 graduates. It took a LONG time. But afterwards we got to eat some delicious food and then we caravaned home...and took naps. After dragging ourselves out of bed, we just kinda hung out the rest of the night. We did puzzles and drank lots of cold water (did I mention we had to eat outside...in the 90 heat). It was exciting, to say the least.

Caroline

2010-05-10T10:52:00.000-07:00

She did inspire me. While she was looking over my shoulder, Caroline saw my blog. And the picture of SJ laying on the garage floor looking dead. She was perfectly fine with the fact that Sarah appeared to be dead. In fact she asked if she was. Mary and I explained that no, she was just laying on the floor and there happened to be red paint there. (we didn't elaborate further and explain that SJ had wanted to look dead. we thought it wasn't necessary information.) She then asked "oh, so she wasn't praying or eating or going places?" We said no, that she wasn't right then, but that when she got up she did. She nodded, as if satisfied. When I remembered this, the first thing that struck me was "wow, she mentioned prayer first." Her parents are not perfect, and they don't pretend to be. Right now, they are even going through some rocky times in their marriage. Caroline is completely unaware of any of this. But even unconciously, she is learning from them that prayer is important. Other times I have talked with her and she has asked me if I had Jesus in my heart. Without even waiting to hear the spiritual state of my heart, she proceeded to tell me how amazing He was. "...He loves you and me and he comes into you when you ask. And He never leaves. Sometimes Mommy and Daddy leave and go somewhere and I have to stay behind but He never does. He's right here..." She said all this in the Nursery with me during church a few weeks ago. Exact quote. Granted, she doesn't really understand what she's talking about or what it means, exactly, but it's still one of the sweetest things I've ever heard. She talks about prayer the same way, explaining how God really does hear you every time you talk to Him. She says she talks to Him about the flowers and the butterflies and her little sister.She's only four, so she doesn't understand how badly she really needs Jesus in her heart and how often in this life she's going to be falling apart and cry out to God, wondering if He's still there. But for now, she's on the right track, and I thank God every time I see her for the precious little gift she is.

More Pictures...

2010-05-10T10:29:00.000-07:00

The computer isn't letting me post pictures...it's been having (other) problems lately, too. I'm going to try moving pictures from this computer to another one and see if I can post them from there. There should be (more) pictures of our trip to Huntsville, and I might be able to find a picture of Caroline. If I am successful, they should be online by tomorrow at three. :)

hello...

2010-05-08T12:52:00.000-07:00

so, right now there's a 4-year-old looking over my shoulder while I decide what to write about. She's cute.

Huntsville!!

2010-05-02T13:03:00.000-07:00

This past week, Dad and Mom went to the Christian Alliance for Orphans Summit VI conference in Minneapolis, MN. So, the five kids stayed with, you guessed it (if you aren't one) the Ruffs!!! And of course, in keeping with the Ruff/Zeglen way, we took lots of pictures. And a picture's worth a thousand words, right? So, here are a few pictures.

all done...

2010-04-27T07:55:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I know I wrote last week about being done with school, but yesterday made it official. We had our end of the year Awards Ceremony. Each class did a 5-minute presentation to show what they had learned. Our class did a skit about philosophers...no one's favorite subject. (except our teacher...she's the one who chose it.) Ours went remarkably well considering we hadn't managed to achieve a serious rehearsal previous to performing it on stage. In front of like, two hundred people. Peter's class did an amazing job! His teacher is really great, and she introduced the class really well. Their presentation was 'myth-busters'...addressing misconceptions that people have about God and His character. Peter had to be on stage for the longest, and he had a bunch of lines, and he was AMAZING!! It was pretty fun. I'm really excited about being done, except I'll miss my friends. :( Speaking of friends, I am packing right now to leave for Huntsville tomorrow!!!!! YAY!!! I'm excited!!

Live Free or Die Hard

2010-04-24T15:27:00.001-07:00

Live Free or Die Hard is a complex, exciting, and completely unrealistic movie, but a good one nonetheless. It stars Bruce Willis and if you know about Bruce Willis, you know that at least 98% of the movies he's in are rated R. This is the only one of the Die Hard series that is PG-13. And someone people object to that. It still has massive amounts of language, (we Clearplay it, and about 1/3 of the dialogue is gone...okay, maybe that's an exaggeration, but really, overall, it's a movie of few words, and the fact that they use bad language for a lot of it, it's kinda disappointing.)terrific explosions, and plenty of other violence. I really like the movie, for one reason because it's so unrealistic. It has a good story line, the special effects are excellent, and the acting is superior. It's a really good movie to watch right before or right after either the 4th of July or a trip to D.C. It has it's good moments (and bad moments) but overall it's one of the best action thrillers I've ever seen. It's my personal favorite out of the Die Hard series. (followed closely by the first, then the second, then the third) I haven't seen it in a couple of months, and the only reason I'm writing this post is that I decided to post again, and some of our best friends (you know who you are:) watched it recently. I'm sure I would have more to say if I watched it last night, but that's all for right now.

no pictures... :(

2010-04-23T05:39:00.000-07:00

So, last night we went out for ice cream at Bruster's with some friends of ours. I did remember my camera, and my battery was even charged, but...the kiddos weren't feeling very photogenic. They wouldn't hold still. so, not pictures...sad :( Maybe something exciting will happen tomorrow, and I'll post about it...maybe

today...

2010-04-19T13:11:00.000-07:00

Today was our last day of "official" school. We have done homeschooling through the summer, like ever since I've been alive. But, in the summer we have very little or at least flexible deadlines, and only a light school load. I'm excited!! Today we took our last exams, (except for Mary, who has to take a math final here at home) and I'm SOOO happy to be done!! (for the most part, anyway.) This summer, all I have to do is Biology 2 (anatomy and phisiology), pre-calculus (again), Logic, ACT prep, and a couple more weeks of Latin. Okay, so even to me, that sounds like a lot, but it really isn't that bad. I'm half-way done with my Biology book, and my math doesn't HAVE to be done until next spring, so those two aren't terrible. I'm actually kinda scared about Logic...I don't really know what to expect with it. :P And technically I'm not taking the ACT till next year (or even later) so I don't really have to stress about that. So, I'm ready for summer. How about you?

Spring Protocol

2010-04-16T11:12:00.001-07:00

As you all should know by now, Sarah, Mary and I are enrolled in a homeschool co-op called Classical Conversations. Brief background before I completely explain this post. In Classical Conversations, the high school level classes are titled Challenge I, Challenge II, Challenge III, and Challenge IV. They are all high school level, and you get high school credits for completing the courses in each. They are intentionally not divided into grades like school. Anyway, now to the point of this post. (most) High schools have proms every year. Not ours. (and it's a good thing, too). Instead, the four Challenge programs (listed above) have a Spring Protocol event every spring. First, we have an etiquette seminar one week, going over proper etiquette rules for the evening. (approximately one month before the actual deal) The evening (this time, anyway) consisted of going out to a FANCY resteraunt, and then going to the symphony/orchestra. We were required to dress up (obviously)...really, the only reason I am writing this post is because I thought you might want to see pictures of me-I mean US. :)

here they are...

2010-04-13T08:32:00.001-07:00

Turkish Delight

2010-04-11T16:04:00.000-07:00

Quick post...so no pictures right now. Just telling you that I don't have time to post pictures of the making of Turkish Delight right now, but I was going to tell you that I will post pictures sometime tomorrow afternoon. If you require explanation, here is an abbrieviated version: to be prepared for any mishaps, I decided to make my treats a day early. That's why I made it on Saturday instead of Sunday even though it isn't due 'till Monday. I have to wait until tomorrow to cut it anyway, so I just decided to wait. So...pictures tomorrow!! Be sure to check!! :)

Experimentation...

2010-04-10T10:20:00.001-07:00

Okay kids, this afternoon I am planning on making Turkish Delight for a project due Monday. I am planning to document this adventure accordingly (a.k.a. I'll take and post pictures) I am hoping this time round the results will not be as disastrous as last time (remember that Sufie?) I think my camera battery is charged and there should be plenty of pictures...stay tuned :)

Happy Birthday...to Sarah

2010-04-06T08:10:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday dear Sarah!
Happy Brithday to you!!!!

Happy Birthday Sufie!!!

2010-04-05T12:50:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear Sufie
Happy Birthday to you!!!

Happy Birthday...to Erin!!!

2010-04-04T05:03:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday dear Erin
Happy Birthday to you

P.S. If it isn't Erin's birthday feel free to correct me...I wasn't sure :)

Happy Birthday...to me!!!

2010-04-01T06:46:00.000-07:00

Just in case anyone forgot...it's my birthday!! Anyone who doesn't send me an e-mail or leave a comment wishing me the best will be in trouble...just kidding...:)
Happy April Fools Day!!!!

An Authentic Scottish Wedding

2010-03-28T07:53:00.000-07:00

Alas! I was the only person who remembered to bring a camera...and I forgot to check my batteries which died soon after we arrived. This is the only picture (in our possession) of the entire wedding! :( But, this one's pretty good. :) The music was for the most part all celtic, the groomsmen (and groom, and father of the bride) wore kilts, and they cut the cake with a sword. Both the bride and groom were deeply involved with fencing, and they had an honor guard (the bride's brothers and other fencing students) salute them as they left. It was a beautiful spring day, and it was a lovely wedding and reception. They had regular reception food, (cheese and crackers, rolls, chicken salad, etc) and delicious punch. They also had CANDY!! Tons and tons of CANDY. I think everyone should have candy at their wedding. :) It makes the little kids less restless. They also had serving cakes, so that guests could eat cake without having to wait for the bride and groom to cut it. It was exquisite!

prolongment of doom

2010-03-24T13:44:00.001-07:00

so...I just realized that in 24 hours from Tuesday night to Wednesday night, no one really checks my blog besides me and SJ. so I have decided to give y'all until Saturday night. If you have any ideas (or just don't want me to post about my sister), you must sumbit them before 10 pm on Saturday, March 27th.

ideas...

2010-03-23T15:08:00.001-07:00

Okay, kids, I haven't forgotten y'all, my faithful blog readers. I just seem to be lacking the inspiration in my head that then becomes a blog post on the computer. If anybody has extra, it would be appreciated. Okay, despite the possibly confusing vernacular of the above statement, let's cut to the chase. WHAT SHOULD I POST ABOUT?!?!?!?! Is that clear enough? You have 24 hours after reading this to respond. Don't be late. I'm watching you.

Spring ahead, do math

2010-03-14T04:04:00.000-07:00

Today is Pi day!!!! YAY!!! I think we should eat something special in honor of the day. Celebrations are all about food, right? I might do some math, too. (even though it's Sunday.) I think someone (hint, hint) should make a pie in a certain pi plate, devour it, and then post pictures on her blog depicting the whole event. :) Don't forget to set your clocks ahead!! :)

2010-03-02T05:01:00.000-08:00

hey everybody...so it's snowing again here...camera battery is currently dead...working on it. Stephen and Emilie are here and I'll try to post pics as soon as i can take them. :)

okay...i'm posting

2010-02-26T10:51:00.000-08:00

So, even though I'm posting, there's really not that much to say. I've been doing school like crazy because Stephen's coming tomorrow and staying for the week! YAY! I finished my math book today...exciting, right? I'll try to post pictures of Stephen's visit as they come. yeah, that's about it...what's up with you?

Happy Valentine's Day

2010-02-15T09:21:00.001-08:00

Happy belated Valentine's Day to everyone!!!!!

It's snowing...again!!!!

2010-02-12T10:48:00.000-08:00

Yep, it's snowing again. I wonder where Al Gore and his theories of global warming are now...hmm obviously not in Chattanooga. This winter has been the coldest since like, 1993. (According to Wikipedia, anyway...which I don't trust.) But, seriously, it's been REALLY COLD!!! We have also had a large amount of snow ALREADY this year...and now we're adding to it. I think I'm ready for summer, though. :)

Unfair Valentine's Day

2010-02-11T05:40:00.001-08:00

Valentine's Day, as you all know, is this Sunday. On Monday, Peter and his class at CC get to dissect a cow heart in honor of the holiday. I know, unfair right? We don't even get to do experiments in our class, and he gets to dissect a COW HEART!! I'm not jealous, though, because there's something in the Bible about that. :) So what are your plans for Valentine's Day?

2010-02-05T13:20:00.001-08:00

I hate apathy. It's technically defined as "a supression of emotion". To me, it means not trying to live every moment to its fullest, treating every day as a gift from God, unique, once-in-a-lifetime. Today is never going to happen again. You may have a similar day, but no day is identical. You will never have another February 5th, 2010. You can't go back and change what you did...or left undone.

I hate feeling indifferent. Come on people, wake up! This is the life God gave you to live! Live it with the wonder and awe of a child of Light; a child of God. That is what we are, and yet we so are so often apathetic. It's so easy to drift from day to day, going through the motions of living. We should live every day as if it were our last, and planning as though our world will last for a hundred years.

No Church

2010-01-31T06:23:00.000-08:00

Due to "severe weather conditions" church was cancelled today. Just FYI.

More Snow!!!

2010-01-30T12:23:00.000-08:00

I love snow!!!! Yes, I think I have an obsession. It's supposed to get warm tomorrow and melt, which is really, really, sad. I guess I'll live, though. I think Kathy and I are the only ones who still have an obsession with snow, so we were out there taking pictures for multiple hours. Right now I need to empty my memory stick, 'cause it's full of white pictures!! I only posted about a third of them. It makes me sooo happy to see white everywhere!!! :)

Another Post on Snow!!!!!

2010-01-29T13:24:00.000-08:00

Yes, more snow pictures. The snow is still coming down really fast...we're getting a blizzard!!! Hopefully it will all still be there tomorrow, and if it is, guess what...MORE PICTURES!!! I'm really excited. I love snow.

SNOW!!!!

2010-01-29T11:17:00.000-08:00

I love snow!!!

It's snowing outside!!!!!!! I am so excited!!!! Tonight we are celebrating Kaitlin's birthday (The almost seventeen year old who is staying with us), which is totally random except for the fact that it's supposed to be a surprise, and since it's snowing her school got canceled, so that made it difficult. We're working on it, though.

Recap of my life...

2010-01-29T11:00:00.000-08:00

This is a recap of my life over the past week and a half. Last Monday I woke up and felt slightly crummy. I went to Classical Conversations anyway. First mistake. I sat next to my favorite Latin partner (non-sibling) at the aforementioned CC. Second mistake. Got home, watched Air Force One with family and took my temp. 101.3. That wasn't appreciated. Wake up Tuesday morning with a HUGE headache and took my temperature again. 102.4. Oh, great. Completely miserable in bed all day Tuesday. Peter, too. Woke up Wednesday morning. Sarah had already informed us that being sick is all mental. Wednesday morning, she felt crummy, and yet held to the fact that it was all mental and that she just had to tell herself that she wasn't sick. She was sick. Wednesday another miserable day in bed, only this time, Sarah was also in bed. Woke up Thursday much better, only with a cold. It was raining outside and Dad didn't want the roof to cave in, so he asked me to clean the roof off. I, being the wonderful girl I am, complied. I cleaned off the roof and am surprised that I didn't get pnuemonia. Now, on Tuesday night, when I was miserable in my bed, a friend of ours dropped of her two girls, ages 13 and almost 17 to stay with us for 12 days while she visisted Arizona to care for a dying aunt. Whoa. She ahd just asked us to take them on Sunday...two days before they were going to move in for almost two weeks. Well, now it's been 10 days and going fine. It'll be weird once they leave, though. Let's go back to Wednesday. If you remember, Sarah woke up sick on Wednesday, but so did someone else. My FLP (favorite Latin partner) did, too. He was sick until Saturday. So, Saturday his older brother had already planned to have a friend over, and since my FLP was feeling better, he didn't cancel. His mistake. One hour after his friend had left, my FLP's older brother was in bed, sick. The next day their brother got it, too. So, I infected multiple people, and could have infected more. My FLP's older brother's friend, for example, has a two month old younger brother, plus seven other siblings, all who could potentially have gotten sick. They didn't, which was really good, but next time I'm going to take my temperature BEFORE I leave the house. Yep, that's my plan.

P.S. The girls who are staying with us didn't get sick, thankfully, and they are having fun!!

Sanctity of Life

2010-01-24T07:50:00.000-08:00

"For you created my inmost being: you knit me together in my mother's womb...All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." ~Psalm 139:13,16

Since the United States Supreme Court legalized abortion on demand in all 50 states in 1973, over 50 million unborn babies have been aborted in our country. Over a third of the women over age 45 today have had an abortion.

These statitics are incredible, and we hope they won't be repeated in the future. Crisis pregnancy centers are doing their part, but what are we doing about it? These babies have the right to live. So what are we going to do about it? Sound the call. Join the cry these babies never had the chance to utter. Tell the world.

Guess what I heard today...

2010-01-16T14:43:00.000-08:00

Guess what I heard on the radio today...Taylor Swift 'You Belong With Me'. Okay, so since the only people who ever read my blog are the crazies who have been known to play this song to the extremes, make up dances and hand motions, and even annoy the dogs with it, I figured this warranted a post. Since I have been less than regular in posting anyway, I decided to tell y'all that we listened to the whole thing. Yup. We even called Uncle T so he could join in the fun. I think we need to visit the Ruffs so we can fully expose Casey to the neccessities of life, aka Taylor Swift 24/7 nonstop. There, I posted. :)

Today...Rambling

2009-12-27T13:17:00.000-08:00

I bet you're all in suspense about our mysterious photo shoot. Not really. But, just in case you are, you have something else coming. Drumroll, please...I can't get the pics onto the computer! Dunno what happened...technical error. Oh, well I'm gonna keep trying. So, since Mom and Dad are out of town, and Grandma is only staying nights with us, one of our youth leaders drove us to church. As she said "It was crazy driving day"...let me explain. First of all, at the intersection of our road and another busy road, there is a very long red light, which turns into a short green light. As we were innocently driving to church, and OLD couple turned onto our street from the other street and lost a pile of papers. Threr were papers flying everywhere, and the couple didn't notice until they had gone about half a block. They then proceeded to BACK UP onto the other busy street and retrieve them. The old man was in the middle of the intersection picking up papers and dodging cars. Another man in a pick-up helped him. This second man was the definition of redneck (or redthroat, whichever you prefer). He was smoking a cigarette, wearing cowboy boots and a baseball, and there was country music blaring from his car. Then, later on we were at another intersection and we had a green light. So, like most decent people we decided to go...I know, how weird are we? Anyway, a car going the other direction had the red light, and thus, was supposed to stop. He didn't. He turned left directly ahead of us! He was going slowly, which was really good and we able to see him before we hit him. Good idea, right? We arrived at church in one piece and without further *ahem* incedents. I think we all said an extra prayer of thanks for that. :)

today...

2009-12-26T12:23:00.000-08:00

Mom and Dad are safely off on their way to Montana!! We just finished watching Star Wars episode IV for school. Next, we're going to write a "futuristic paper" that is five hundred words long and a one-page paper that answers the following questions: 'What factors contributed to Darth Vader's turning from the Dark Side' and 'What does this say to us as Christians'? It's a good thing that it's actually not due for about a month and a half...I think it'll take me that long to finish it. :) Especially when school actually starts back and I have other papers due. Fun. Anyway, I better get back to work. Photo shoot scheduled for tomorrow!! :)

for to us a Child is born!!!

2009-12-25T09:17:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas everybody!!! It's my Christmas post! I know the very few people who read this are SHOCKED that I'm posting twice in 24 hours. I really don't have that much to say. Kevin came down lst night and this morning we ate something for breakfast that we haven't had in a looong time" (insert drumroll) Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls! YAY! So delicious. Mom is taking a nap...I think her plan is to build up on sleep now because she thinks she might still be packing for Montana tonight. Who would've thought that it will take about 3 bags per person to make it work...hmm and they haven't even started yet. It does get complicated, though, because they have to take up Christmas and birthday presents for Stephen. I'm soooo glad they waited to leave tomorrow. Anyway, enough about me...what does your after-Christmas days spell: a nice relaxing time with family, or complete and total, UTTER CHAOS!! I predict the latter here. Merry Christmas! God bless us, everyone.

2009-12-24T11:48:00.000-08:00

Long time, no post, I know. I'm gonna see if I can/remember to post a real Merry Christmas post tomorrow. We failed to have a photo shoot in the snow, but Kathy and I are cooking up some new ideas...we're planning on doing an *elaborate* photo shoot on Saturday or Sunday...after Mom and Dad leave. :) This afternoon, Dad's father and step-mom are coming to our house for a fancy Christmas Eve dinner. We did a big fancy meal last Thanksgiving with them, but when Thanksgiving week rolled around this year, Mom (in her words) "couldn't pull herself together" to do it. So, it was postponed to today. We are going to gorge ourselves with delicious food at around 4:00, and then we shall adjourn to our church for the candlelight Christmas Eve service. Somewhere in there Kevin will arrive from Knoxville. It's our first Christmas ever without Stephen. :( It makes me sad. To make matters worse, I know what pretty much everyone is getting me for Christmas. Some people like knowing, but I am not one of them. Oh, well. Anyway, the kitchen is summoning me to work. Fun...

More Christmas Ramblings: White Christmas!?!?!

2009-12-05T05:24:00.000-08:00

Okay, I know it isn't Christmas yet, but even as I speak it's snowing outside! A rare thing for Chattanooga, esp. before January. Although, I'm sure that Adrian and Susan and Hans have already had snow. :) I don't have pictures yet, but I will post some soon. My camera battery is dead. :) I can't believe Christmas is almost here! I have no idea what to get Mary. Any ideas? We're done with school on Monday. (kinda - we're never done with school :) during Christmas I have to continue with Math and Biology, but I'm done for the semester with Literature, Economics, Shakespeare, History, and Debate. YAY! Suddenly Math and Biology don't look so bad. :) Anyway, I'm excited that I get a semi-break. I think we should do some crazy photo shoots in the snow... while we have it. :)

Something to post about!

2009-11-25T04:43:00.000-08:00

Today I finally have something to post about. YAY!!! My mundane life is becoming less mundane...for today. Kevin is coming down this afternoon (in like, an hour) and we're making gingerbread houses with him! He's staying tomorrow but has to work on Friday, so he's leaving sometime tomorrow. We're getting together with some amazing friends on Sunday night, and that's about it. School is wrapping up for this semester. I can't believe it! I had three final projects due this past Monday and next Monday (12 days), I have two more. I'm so excited about Christmas break! During Christmas break, Mom and Dad are going to fly to Montana to see Stephen for his birthday. (right after Christmas) We are going to survive. Maybe. Aloha Nui and Happy Thanksgiving!!

Christmas Ramblings

2009-11-21T08:47:00.000-08:00

I love Christmas. With 8 other people in your family to buy presents for, you start thinking about Christmas before Thanksgiving. :) The whole season is exciting. True, it would be even better if we could have a white Christmas. Not even every year, just once a decade or something. :) I'm sure Adrian and Sufie and Hans will get a white Christmas. Good for you. It might get below freezing down here, but that's about all we can hope for here in Chattanooga. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

I need help

2009-11-19T14:58:00.000-08:00

I know, I know, it's been almost a month since I posted. But, here I am. I took Twig's advice and changed my blog background in the hope's that I would actually post more. Yeah right. :) I really love winter and Christmas, and this blog background will probably stay until May. Now, with my record, I may only post 3 times between now and then. Our life has been crazy with Sarah's surgery, dentist appointments, and Mom teaching. Our plans for Thanksgiving aren't finalized but Kevin is coming down (YAY). We're not sure what we're going to do with him...college-age brothers can be hard to plan for. And then we're on to Christmas plans...I have to buy presents, and we have to set up decorations! I'm kinda panicking right now, can you tell. Our "pre-holiday" season has been really hard, and I don't know if I can handle it! After Christmas, Mom and Dad are planning to fly out and see Stephen in Montana. I'm so overwhelmed! I can't believe I found the 10 minutes to write this post. Please pray for me. I can't keep doing this. I need Jesus' peace right now and I need to remember the reason for this season: that he came because He loved us. It doesn't matter that I'm a month behind in Biology. He made me. When I think about His big picture, even though I can only see a small part of it, I think "how stupid is it to worry about the next math lesson that I don't have done?" He gave up everything for me. He wants me to learn how to be like Him. I don't need to learn all the bones in your body to grow. But I do need to find the time every day to spend with God. I try and try but it's so easy to be caught up in what needs to happen for you to succeed academically, but what about spiritually? What good is it for you to be able to recite the Presidents in order if you don't know the books of the Bible in order? It just doesn't make sense. Why do we get so caught up in what we "need" to get done in order to please others when we don't take time to do what we truly need to in order to please the only One who matters? We need so much help. His help. We can't do it on our own. Okay, so that was really long and incoherent, but hopefully you followed. You get a gold star if you read the whole thing. :)

Laws Ave. Cleanup

2009-10-22T05:20:00.000-07:00

Okay, I think most of you know the story, but for those who don't, bear with me...

So, about 2 years a single mom called our church looking for help. Since she lived in Brainerd, Dad got the responsibility of helping her. We made her a Thanksgiving meal, and then, in December, bought school uniforms for her kids for Christmas. We did various other things, but this is the abbreviated version. :) Come January her landlord, who was actually some sort of con artist, was being foreclosed on...ergo she would be homeless. Great. So, on a cold January morning, Mom and Dad show up on the steps of the Hamilton County Courthouse and buy the house. Whoa. We were now...LANDLORDS. Deep breath. So, things kind of went downhill from there. Turns out, the single mom was utterly unable to keep a job, and we eventually felt that we were not helping her by giving her a house, a car (we bought one for her), and money for gas. So, we evicted her. Now, 18 months later, we still have a money pit (a.k.a. the house). We couldn't get it insured until we put a new roof on, and there were various other issues that we had to fix. This last week we have spent 24 + hours cleaning and furnishing it so that we can have pictures/videos taken and the realtor is listing it today! YAY! We're hoping to have it gone by the end of October. Hoping. Maybe I can find before and after pictures of the house. It looks great! By the way, other setbacks have been people breaking windows and stealing azalea bushes, plus unwelcome black widow spiders. It's been an adventure, all right.

D.C.!!!

2009-10-22T05:16:00.000-07:00

First, let me start off by saying that I am patting myself on the back right now because (drumroll, please)...I'm posting twice in the same week!!! (Taylor falls over in shock :) Anyway, just giving you the heads up; we're leaving for Washington D.C. tomorrow!!! Yay! I'll try to post about it after we get home on Monday, but you all know how likely that is. :) Our computer has been really weird lately, so those pictures I promised may not happen... :) But, I will try to post about the trip next week. Have a great weekend!!

Campout!!

2009-10-17T06:13:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, the Ruffs and Zeglens got together for their annual fall break campout. Does anyone know what the weather was like last weekend in Huntsville? Wet. and Cold. So, Friday night we drove down in the dark (with some intense thunderstorms and creepy detours) and stayed at the Ruffs house because the park ranger had sent them down the mountain we were (supposed to be) camping on because of the tornado watch. Fun, fun. All eight girls piled into their family room for the night. Woke up in the morning, ate breakfast in their kitchen, and then packed up all our sleeping stuff and clothes and headed up the mountain. We set up our 4-6 person tent and made a sleeping bag arrangement so that we could succesfully stuff 8 girls in there. Easier said than done. Then we did what we do best. We took pictures!! We went to the playground and overlook and took pictures until the clouds came so low that we couldn't see 10 feet in front of us. Creepy. We walked the mile (approximately) back to the campsite in the mist. Upon arriving in the camp, we were immediately summoned to a "family meeting" called by Uncle T. Uh-oh. Never good news. Turns out, this time was no different. Turns out, the dads thought it would be too cold and wet to stay on the mountain Saturday night. So, we packed up the tent and sleeping supplies AGAIN, and headed back down the mountain. Did I mention it took over an hour to get the tent set up and everyone settled inside?! We were not happy campers at that point. :) Anyway, we got over it and set up "camp" again in the Ruffs' family room. Sunday morning... woke up, packed up all our stuff into the car, went back up the mountain, and did a repeat of last years' experiment w/diet coke and mentos. It wasn't quite as much fun when we actually knew what we were doing. ;) Had lunch on Sunday and did skits in front of the fire for about two hours. Then we had to leave. *sob, sob* So, we didn't actually sleep in a tent or have to make any food at the campsite besides sandwiches and dessert. :) This year was our "not-camping camping trip" with the Ruffs. Can't wait for next year!

Pictures in the mist:

More pics coming soon!! (another cliff hanger for you Adrian :)

Plans for October

2009-10-02T04:57:00.001-07:00

So, it's officially October. Okay, so it was actually officially October yesterday, but hey, at least I got it in the first week! :) So, does anyone who reads this know what is happening next weekend? Hmm? Well, if you don't know, you should. It's the official annual Ruff-Zeglen campout. Now, if you aren't a Ruff or a Zeglen, you may want to stop reading this simply because

IKEA

2009-09-23T03:58:00.000-07:00

No, this isn't really about IKEA. Let me explain. This Sunday, we took Kathy to the American Girl Doll Store in Atlanta, GA for Kathy's birthday. It was tons of fun! Sarah Mary, and I all took our old dolls and we had a party! We had lunch there, and our dolls got there own chairs and everything! Kathy was thrilled. It was a total surprise for her. She thought we were going furniture shopping at IKEA. Haha. Then she got to pick out stuff for her birthday present from the three girls. Mom and Sarah snuck away to buy a surprise present for Kathy to actually open on her birthday. What a thought. :) That is traditionally how it's done, is it not?

Oklahoma!

2009-09-05T08:47:00.000-07:00

Who has seen X-men? (if you haven't, you need to.) :) Who likes Wolverine/Hugh Jackman? Who knew he sang?!?! We made this discovery a few months ago when we saw X-Men Origins: Wolverine. (No, he doesn't sing in there, but we researched him after we saw that.) Who knew he sings the lead character, Curly, in the 1999 Broadway Production of Oklahoma?!?! We are about halfway through, and it is really fun. For a musical and a Western, it's probably the best I've seen. (Sorry, John Wayne, Rio Bravo is definitely next.) It's three hours long, and a little slow, but again, for a western and a musical it isn't bad. Curly definitely beats Troy Bolton any day. (Sorry, all you HSM fans out there.) Anyway, we're only at the beginning of Act II, but I really like it so far. Maybe we could watch it some time with the afore mentioned friends-of-20+-years. when we get to see them again. :( I think they're the only people that read my blog anymore. I don't even know if they read it anymore.*sigh*. If this is an incorrect assumption, please comment and tell me otherwise. Happy Labor Day Weekend, again.

So......

2009-09-05T08:42:00.001-07:00

So....it's been two weeks since I posted. So.....nothing much has been happening. So.....Any ideas for a brilliant post? So......no school on Labor Day. YAY!! So...some people who had been our friends for 20+ years now turned a visit from us down this weekend so they could paint their living room WITHOUT US!!!!! Maybe we'll decide to speak to them again when we cool off. Maybe. Have a happy Labor Day Weekend, all you people who read this!

Camping or Pictures.. Which one would you pick?

2009-08-17T05:42:00.000-07:00

So, I guess I have to start from the beginning. Last Monday, Peter and Dad went to their first Boy Scouts meeting. Peter just turned 11, (the necessary age for starting Boy Scouts) so they decided Monday was the night. They got there and, as it turns out, once a month the Scouts go on some sort of trip together. This past weekend there was a canoe trip on the Hiwasse river. Peter and Dad went. Obviously, I wasn't there, but it sounds like they had a good time. It turns out that Peter's troop leader was a friend of ours, which was really good, because he only knew one other boy on the trip. Meanwhile, at the place-of-much-stress (a.k.a. HOME) we were having quite a different experience. Stored in our basement were numerous boxes of pictures. 20+ years of boxes, actually. We were assigned to sort through and organize them by year so that we could have them scanned and put on external hard drives. We did that (most painfully) on Friday night. Saturday morning came, and we thought we were in the home stretch. When we woke up, we discovered that Mom had only slept 5 hours that night. Fun, right? Don't get me wrong, she wasn't grumpy, just......tired. So, Saturday, she took a nap, and then we were finishing up pictures. Mainly putting the pictures in labeled boxes and bags. We realized that all our hard work the night before didn't do much because we didn't really know what year some of the pictures belonged to. So, it took all of Saturday night to finish those pictures, but we all went to bed with a feeling of accomplishment. All of us, that is, except Mom. She realized that we had photo albums with all of the pictures we had just sorted through that were already in order, (thus eradicating the need for Friday nights' 6 hours of work) and that we also had negatives of all of the pictures (thus erasing the need for Saturday's work). So, she didn't sleep at all on Saturday night, and come Sunday morning was exhausted. After church, we came home and worked on photo albums all morning and afternoon. We cleaned everything up and, at 3 o'clock we had ice cream to celebrate being DONE!!!! For real, this time. YAY! Then Mom took a nap. She wook up at about five and we ate, cleaned up again, and played spades until Dad and Peter got home at about 9. So, which weekend would you have chosen?

camping/canoeing:

home: (no pictures available)

End-Of-Summer Blues part 2

2009-08-11T04:37:00.000-07:00

School officially started yesterday. :( It's really sad. Oh well, it was gonna happen sometime. That being said, I will not have much time to blog (not that I did it that much, anyway :)). I will try to update you on the more important parts of my life, but right now, there's not too much. I guess I'm back to biology now.